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  • Morning at the monastery [Day #2]

  • Jul 19th, 2021 • Uncategorized

We didn’t find a campground in time on, so we had to spontaneously overnight somewhere in our car. We arrived a bit before midnight at the parking lot behind the monastery we once did a silent retreat at. It was a bit of a rough night, but I was happy that I woke up just in time to record the waking bells and ceremonial “knocking” which had been dear to me since that retreat 😁
Fortunately we had bought 1x1m mosquito net to attach to the car window in case we need to sleep in the car. Without it we would have had a lot of mosquitos in the car or lots of condensation on the window / too much co2 from breathing with windows closed 
Jenna seemed to have a good sleep (the first hour was the worst..while finding a reasonably good position to sleep in)
It was such a pretty morning. this was at 6:30am, after the people doing the retreat woke up, had their morning coffee and did their first meditation session.
on our morning walk we met a cat that was chilling on the path. 
it walked us through the forest for a bit.
😽
We had a brief "peur des pannes de voiture" (car breakdown scare 😅) just after leaving the monastery. turned out to be either minor or a software issue 路
Recharging in Launs-les-Saunier
Finally reaching the flora of our destination 😍

Those winding roads were tough to drive with a heavy car and the locals driving .. let's be generous and call it "experienced" and not "insane" .. did not make it easier! Unfortunately we went down the wrong mountain and didn't notice until we went all the way down .. adding an hour to hour drive 🤦

Dennis and I were feeling slightly overdressed upon our arrival at the clothing optional campground, where nudists and non-nudists roam free. We were greeted by a spirited boxer (the dog kind not the fighter) and barked at for sometime until he felt quite satisfied with his work as gatekeeper. The humans were a bit more relaxed (almost too relaxed). We were pointed in the direction of the camping area but somehow managed to pitch tent in a different area reserved exclusively for RVs. We were all set up just in time for nightfall... and slept quite well and long!

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